John Askey praises MK Dons loanee before challenging Hartlepool United after their win over Grimsby Town

Hartlepool earned back-to-back wins for only the second time this season after they scored three times in eight second half minutes to run away with things at Blundell Park.

Dan Kemp recorded a hat-trick with Josh Umerah grabbing his 15th goal of the season as Pools moved level on points with Crawley Town in the battle for League Two survival.

Kemp opened the scoring midway through the first half when he brought David Ferguson’s cross down inside the area before picking his spot into the far corner.

It was a measured performance for Askey’s side who were relatively comfortable despite not threatening too much themselves beyond Kemp’s opener.

But that changed in the second half as Grimsby came out with their ears likely to still be ringing from the boos serenading them upon the half-time whistle.

And the Mariners levelled things within 10 minutes as Michee Efete raced clear of the Hartlepool defence to beat Jakub Stolarczyk as Askey’s side were against tested.

But then came a remarkable eight minutes as Kemp restored Hartlepool’s lead from the penalty spot after Wes McDonald was brought down.

Despite a lengthy delay as Grimsby contested the decision, Kemp stepped up to find the far corner before grabbing his hat-trick four minutes later.

McDonald was again involved as he danced his way to the angle of the area before picking out Kemp who did the rest when slotting home right-footed.

And with the 1,200 Hartlepool supporters behind the goal in dreamland things got even better as Umerah added a fourth soon after.

“We played really well, the first half especially,” said Askey.

“We had to dig in at times. We rode our luck a little bit. But because the players are so positive and playing with freedom they’ve ended up getting the goals and they’re really good goals again.

“You can’t ask anymore of them. It was just great to come away and have the support that we had and send them home happy.”

And speaking on hat-trick hero Kemp, Askey said: “When he gets into the box and he gets a little bit of space then he’s a really good finisher, he doesn’t just lash at things.

“To have him in the team with that quality is an asset.

“I was onto him on Saturday because he’d stopped getting forward and started wanting to get on the ball in deeper positions and that’s not his game.

“The higher up we can get him on the ball the more goals he’s going to score and the more problems he’s going to cause the opposition and he did that.”

Despite claiming back-to-back wins, however, Askey is, again, keen to ensure his players keep their feet on the ground ahead of Easter Monday’s visit of Stevenage.

“We’re just really pleased, as everybody will be and my job now is just to keep everybody’s feet on the ground and keep doing what we’re doing,” he said.

“Now we’ll see what we’re made of. We’ve drawn level with some teams. We’re in good form. We haven't done anything yet.”